Porn production halted again after positive HIV test for actor

For a third time this year, the adult film industry has been asked to halt production after medical results revealed that a performer had tested positive for HIV.

The Free Speech Coalition, the industry’s trade association, made the announcement Friday after learning that one of the facilities in its PASS (Performer Availability Screening Services) testing network reported a positive HIV test for an adult performer.

“There was a positive test at one of our testing centers. We are taking every precaution while we do research to determine if there’s been any threat to the performer pool,” said Diane Duke, the CEO of the Canoga Park-based Free Speech Coalition, in a statement. “We take the health of our performers very seriously and felt that it was better to err on the side of caution while we determine whether anyone else may have been exposed.”

Information about the performer, the testing center or where the infection occurred was not released.

The third shutdown comes about a year after voters passed Measure B, which requires adult-film performers to wear condoms during sex scenes shot in L.A. County, and for studios to apply for permits through the public health department. Measure B was created and supported by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

“AHF is saddened by the news of yet another adult performer having been infected with HIV. We hope that this person seeks care immediately, and that others were not exposed,” said AHF president Michael Weinstein. “Whether this performer was infected in L.A. County or not, this latest news begs the question: how many people need to become infected with HIV for the county of Los Angeles to engage actively in implementing the will of the voters of L.A. County to protect these performers?”

The AHF has been a vocal critic of the industry, and of L.A. County, for several years over the condoms issue, feeling that the industry fails to regulate itself adequately and the county is also lax in its enforcement.

A syphilis scare earlier this year was proof, according to AHF, that the industry couldn’t police itself. And at least three performers tested positive for HIV earlier, prompting two separate calls for the industry to halt production voluntarily in August and September.

Further testing by the industry determined that none of those performers contracted the disease while working on set in San Francisco.

With Measure B in place, few studios have applied for health permits or film permits in Los Angeles County. It was unclear where the latest performer to test positive for HIV was working, but the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health had not been notified, a spokesman there said.

The Free Speech Coalition has argued that the industry’s regimen of frequent testing, sharing of information and moratoriums on production has effectively kept the industry’s rate of infection relatively low.

Additional tests to determine a timeline and identify any other partners in the most recent case will be conducted, Duke said.

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“We want to make sure all performers are protected. The performers’ health and safety is the most important thing,” Duke said.

The coalition has asked that production stop until further notice. Its requests are considered voluntary, but are generally observed by the major adult film studios.